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Watson denies Grimsley's accusations

Watson denies Grimsley's accusations

NEW YORK -- A day after being linked to drugs in baseball, former pitcher Allen Watson denied the allegation.

Watson was among nine players accused of doping by former pitcher Jason Grimsley in a federal agent's affidavit unsealed Thursday.

"I at no time over my professional baseball career used steroids or any performance-enhancing drugs. Not then, not now, not ever," Watson said Friday in a statement released by his agent, Tony Giordano.

Watson, now 37, was 51-55 with a 5.03 ERA from 1993-2000. The lefty pitched for St. Louis, San Francisco, the Angels, the New York Mets, Seattle and the New York Yankees.

At the request of federal prosecutors, a judge in Phoenix unsealed the 20-page affidavit signed by IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky in May 2006.

In the affidavit, there is this section: "When asked what other current Major League Baseball players used athletic performance-enhancing drugs, Grimsley named former players Allen Watson and David Segui."

The only players named by Radomski that weren't mentioned in the report by former Senate majority leader George Mitchell were former New York Mets All-Star pitcher Sid Fernandez, Pete Rose Jr. and minor leaguers Ryan Schurman and Rick Holyfield.

According to that affidavit, Radomski received a $3,500 check from Fernandez that was written Feb. 14, 2005, eight years after El Sid's final major league appearance. Phone records cited in the affidavit say Rose Jr. called Radomski several times in 2001. Rose Jr., the son of baseball's career hits leader, was sentenced in May 2006 to one month in prison and five months of home detention for distributing a steroid alternative to his minor league teammates.